LOS ANGELES – Two Los Angeles County men were sentenced today to federal prison for conspiracy and a hate crime for attacking five victims at a family-run Turkish restaurant in 2020 while shouting ethnic slurs, throwing chairs at the victims and threatening to kill them.
William Stepanyan, 23, of Glendale was sentenced to five years in federal prison, and Harutyun Harry Chalikyan, 24, of Tujunga was sentenced to 15 months in prison. Both defendants pleaded guilty in October 2021 to one count of conspiracy and one count of hate crime.
In September 2020, long-simmering tensions in Turkish and Armenian communities escalated around the world – including in the United States – in response to a war that broke out between Armenia and its neighboring country backed by the Turkey, Azerbaijan.
According to court documents, the defendants, who identify as members of the Armenian American community, attacked the victims inside the restaurant on November 4, 2020, due to their anger over Turkey’s support for Azerbaijan. in its conflict with Armenia. Earlier today, Stepanyan sent a text message saying he planned to go “hunting [T]urks.
That evening, the defendants went to the restaurant with a group of about nine people who planned to protest outside the establishment because they considered it a symbol of Turkey. Arriving at the restaurant, Stepanyan and Chalikyan stormed inside, threw hardwood chairs at the victims, smashed glassware, destroyed a plexiglass barrier, and knocked over tables. One of the defendants asked the victims: “Are you Turkish? and shouted, “We have come to kill you!” We will kill you!
During the attack, three victims were injured, including one person who lost feeling in his legs and collapsed several times due to the injury. Additionally, during the attack, Stepanyan ripped off the restaurant’s computer terminals and stole a victim’s iPhone.
The attack caused at least $20,000 in damage to the restaurant and physically injured several victims.
“These defendants were motivated by hate and their actions were deplorable,” said U.S. Attorney Tracy L. Wilkison. “The physical injuries and emotional trauma of the victims cannot be underestimated. We hope that the sentences handed down today will help to justify these wrongs.
“Defendants violently attacked people inside a family restaurant because of their alleged nationality,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Such violence based on national origin has no place in our society. The Department of Justice will continue to vigorously pursue bias-motivated crimes in an effort to achieve justice for the victims and communities they are meant to target and intimidate.
“The victims in this case were brutally attacked by the defendants who trampled on their civil rights and likely caused lasting psychological pain for nothing more than the perception of where they were born,” said Kristi Johnson, director assistant in charge of the FBI in Los Angeles. Field office. “The FBI is committed to investigating civil rights violations and holding accountable those who commit acts of hate-motivated violence.”
The defendants were ordered to pay $21,200 in restitution.
The FBI conducted the investigation in this case and received substantial assistance from the Beverly Hills Police Department.
Assistant United States Attorney Lindsey Greer Dotson of the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section and Attorney Michael J. Songer of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division prosecuted the case.
